Panic and fear are more powerful than almost any other force on the human mind. As someone else pointed out, training is a partial answer but even then you are still going to get folks who will freeze no matter despite the best training and screening in the world. The answer is probably a combination of technology AND training. I think all too often folks tend to get in the mindset that technology means you can neglect training and others have this mindset that technology is a crutch that "real pilots" don't need. After helping pick up pieces of shattered pilots who crashed for want of a GPWS or instrument training, I can say that (at least in my book) real pilots use whatever they have at their disposal to try to avoid getting hurt or killed.You're correct in that you can't make anything idiot proof ... we'll just make better idiots. The AF447 stall is a great example of the highest technology not saving the airplane and all the people on-board. Personally, I think that if we continue to make systems smarter and smarter, we, as a people, will get dumber and dumber.